Home can be family's enemy if deadly oversights go undetected

Shirley and Jerry Christian had a new roof put on their house in Lubbock during the summer, and it almost made them sick.

Not because of the bill they received, but because of an oversight that could have cost them their lives.

''Our vents were completely knocked off and not connected at all,'' Shirley Christian said. ''All the (carbon monoxide) fumes from the furnace and hot water heater were just coming out. Fortunately for us, the furnace and hot water heater closets are in the garage. So the highest levels of carbon monoxide were in our garage, but we did have some in the house as well.

''We were having headaches. We weren't having any nausea, but we were waking up with headaches and feeling sluggish.''

The Christians phoned Energas, which sent representatives to test the air.

''Energas came out pretty quickly,'' Shirley Christian said. ''They reconnected the vents for us and aired our house out. They tested all the levels first, then had me open all the doors and turn the ceiling fans on. They told me when they first arrived that we were very fortunate to be alive. Often it's not detected until it's too late.''

Alan Foster, operations manager for Energas in Lubbock, reported that the natural gas company received 256 carbon monoxide calls in 1999 and 220 calls in 2000.

''We see our biggest spike of calls in the fall, when you get the first cold snap and people are wanting to get their furnaces lit again,'' Foster said. ''From time to time, we'll find that a piece of equipment isn't venting properly because the vents were knocked off or not put back on properly. Sometimes we'll find a faulty draft diverter on a furnace."

Most carbon dioxide poisonings occur in the enclosed environment of a car or a building. Winter is a likely time for carbon monoxide poisoning in residential settings because homes are closed up.

In February 1999, 11 members of a Clovis, N.M., family, including eight children, suffered carbon monoxide poisoning when gas leaked from a heating unit in their rented home. Nine of the family members had to be transported to Lubbock for treatment in the hyperbaric chambers at Covenant's Total Wound Treatment Center.

In March 2000, seven members of a Lubbock family were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning at Covenant as the result of a cover missing from the furnace of their residence.

There has been a national push recently for carbon monoxide monitoring to prevent the hundreds of accidental deaths and the thousands of emergency room visits that occur each year. So far, only a few major cities, including Chicago and Albany, N.Y., require detectors to be installed in certain residential settings. Nationally, only 15 percent to 20 percent of U.S. households have detectors.

A 1998 study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that perhaps half of all accidental deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning might be prevented by the use of detectors.

The only carbon monoxide detectors recommended by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission are those meeting Underwriters Laboratories standards. To assure that the detector is UL-approved, check the device for its UL mark before making a purchase.

Carbon Monoxide

What is it?: a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that can be lethal if inhaled in large concentrations. The toxic fumes can be generated by fuel-burning devices such as motor vehicles, furnaces, gas stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, fireplaces, barbecue grills, lawn mowers and snow blowers.

Hazards: Running car engines, lawn mowers or other gas-powered equipment inside a garage is not recommended, experts say. High levels of carbon monoxide can build up, even if the garage door is open. If the garage is attached, fumes may enter the home through doors and porous walls. Also, a charcoal grill or camp stove should never be used inside a home, garage, vehicle or tent.